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Adamant Class
See also: Adamant Heavy Tank The Kharbos Dreadnought A prototype warship which was intended as the lead ship of its class, this ship was developed in response to the Terran Star Dreadnought. Much like its counterpart the Kharbos Dreadnought failed to meet with government approval, though for different reasons. Slower than most heavy cruisers this class relies heavily upon the long range of its phase cannon arrays. 6 of these arrays have been modified extensively to act as light siege cannons. While their firepower must have been impressive at one point the ship is outclassed in almost every way by modern warships. History After what some have described as a pyrrhic victory over the Dreadnought class ships developed by the Terran Alliance, the first Emperor of the 10th dynasty demanded that a study be conducted on the performance of the defeated ships. The results of the study were classified and have since been lost but it had an immediate effect. The Dominion as a whole began to divert increasing resources to improving the kinetic impact resistance of their shields. Meanwhile the Ruling House itself began development of a Heavy cruiser design that would counter any more Dreadnoughts the Terrans might build. Development was delayed several times due to demands that the project be kept exclusively within the Ruling House. As a result its funding was often at the mercy of projects deemed to be more valuable to the Dominion as a whole. Design changes as a result of advancing technology caused radical shifts in its planned armament. Modifications needed were so great that at one point there were serious discussions about scrapping the hull and starting over. Construction was eventually halted when it became clear the Terrans had no interest in mass producing dreadnoughts. Construction resumed more than 20 years later at the behest of the second Emperor of the Kharbos dynasty. First commissioned as the Adamant the ship's firepower was nearly unrivaled at the time, famously driving off a Rovinar heavy cruiser in its first real engagement. It's positive qualities ended there. Sluggish at sublight speeds and costly to construct and maintain, it was decided that an Ascendancy class and several supporting wings of corvettes could be built for the same price. It's phased siege weapons were also far more temperamental those produced by Helios and there was little hope of retrofitting the design with them. Aside from a few rare engagements driving off the TCS Terra Nova, Adamant led a largely unremarkable career which helped ensure it had a lengthy one. Later renamed the Gallant, the ship was placed in reserve for an extended period, only being reactivated in the most dire situations. It saw minimal use in the Expeditionary Wars. Shortages of ships and transports being severe enough that it was pressed into use transporting tens of thousands of civilians. After this it served as the structural foundation of a shipyard, providing power and shielding. When the Terran Civil War of the 3570's escalated and the position of House Kharbos weakened the shipyard was attacked by rival Houses hoping to take advantage. While the attackers were driven off much of the yard was left in shambles. With local forces being told to abandon the system the yard workers once more reactivated the ship and returned it to service. Gallant was once again renamed, now to Guardian, and remained in active service through the Faction Wars. With increasing threats to its status as Ruling House, Kharbos took steps to upgrade the ship so that it could act as a credible threat against other heavy cruisers. Despite this it remained a second line warship. The most serious upgrade was with Terran built sublight drives acquired from the Kavarian Union during the second faction war. These higher performance engines finally allowed the ship more mobility than the Ascendancy class, though only just. The refit was completed only barely in time to take part in attacks on Union fleets at the end of the war to secure salvage. After the Faction Wars Guardian continued to participate in inter-house fighting in the Dominion. It was eventually crippled in battle with House Nirium at the end of the 10th Dynasty. The captain intentionally crash landed the ship on a high gravity Terrestrial world knowing this would hamper salvage efforts. Estimating that it wasn't worth the effort of raising the ship at the time Nirium ignored it and pressed on with their campaign. Several centuries later it has been all but forgotten by most. As of 4032 the Ruling House has sold House Kharbos salvage rights for the downed ship. It was later recovered and formed the basis for the Inexorable Class. Category:Ships Category:Starships Category:Heavy Cruisers Category:Legacy Ships Category:Dominion of Royal Houses